1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to network devices in a storage system implementing unique names for enabling communication with the devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel system and method for uniquely identifying and assigning names to devices connected in networks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common host communication interface for open systems storage products is Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) which can be used to connect large amounts of storage to a server or cluster of servers. A Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) disk and tape drive interface particularly enables implementation of new applications that need high-speed data storage over long distances. These emerging applications include professional movie editing, collaborative engineering efforts, video-on-demand, medical imaging, and high-volume transaction processing. Hard disk and tape drives supporting the FC-AL interface are now available from most of the world""s computer system manufacturers.
The Fibre Channel protocol identifies devices using a convention referred to as World Wide Names (WWN). This is similar in concept to network interfaces, such as provided for Ethernet and Token Ring systems which are assigned unique Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. Each Fibre Channel device has a unique World Wide Name such that no two devices in the world should have the same WWN.
Storage automation products, such as the IBM 3584 Ultra Scalable Tape Library, provided by International Business Machines, the assignee of the present invention, may provide one or more Fibre Channel communications interfaces and the data storage drives included in the library may also provide Fibre Channel communications interfaces.
Service of the library becomes a problem when the library component that provides the Fibre Channel connection is replaced, or when one of the Fibre Channel drives in the library are replaced. This is because those Fibre Channel components each have a unique World Wide Name and the replacement parts (or drives) will have a completely different World Wide Name. Host systems typically configure their Fibre Channel devices at power-on and they will require a reboot or re-initialization of host software to recognize any devices that have been replaced.
That is, the problem is currently solved by a reboot or re-initialization of any affected host systems. This is a real problem for customers that expect a minimum of downtime.
Thus, it is a perceived problem that when a Fibre Channel component is replaced in the library there is experienced a customer down-time.
It would thus be highly desirable to provide a system and methodology for eliminating customer down-time whenever a Fibre Channel component is replaced in the library.
It would be additionally desirable to provide a system and method for assigning a unique identifier, e.g., World Wide name, to Fibre Channel components provided in storage automation products. More generally, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for assigning a unique identifier to any interface component of a network or storage sub-system device.
A further problem of these storage automation products is the problem of updating libraries in the field. Initially, the IBM 3584 automated data storage library was only available with a SCSI host attachment.
An exemplary automated data storage library 10 such as the IBM 3584 Ultra Scalable Tape Library, is illustrated in FIG. 1, which depicts one or more data storage drives 12, for reading and/or writing data on removable storage media 14, such as magnetic tape cartridges or optical disk cartridges, and the like. A plurality of the data storage media 14 are stored in banks of storage shelves 16. Preferably, an accessor 18 mounts a picker 20 and moves horizontally on rails 34 and 35 and vertically to move the picker to access data storage media 14 and transport the media amongst the data storage drives 12, the storage shelves 16 and an input/output (I/O) station 23. As shown in FIG. 3, a library controller 24 is provided which may comprise at least one microprocessor 25 a non-volatile memory device 26, such as a disk drive and/or flash memory and I/O circuits or adapters 27 such as serial ports or register I/O. The controller is coupled with and controls the operation of, the assessor 18, and picker 20, and may interface with the data storage devices 12. The controller may be coupled to one or more of the input/output stations 23, which allow the transfer of data storage media 14 into and out of the library. The controller 24 may additionally be coupled to an operator panel 30 and, additionally to a host system 28, typically via an interface 29 such as SCSI or Fibre Channel ports. The controller 24 receives access commands from the host system 28 for the selection and transport of data storage media amongst the data storage drives 12, the storage shelves 16 and the I/O station 23. The host system 28 may be coupled to the drives 12, and information to be recorded on, or to be read from, selected data storage media 14 may be transmitted between the drives and the host system 28. Alternatively, the library controller may be coupled to the data storage drives 12, and transfers the data between the drives and the host system.
More particularly, the library controller 24 stores programs for operating the library in accordance with vital information. That is, typically, every library is at a different level with regard to engineering change levels, physical configuration, and logical configuration, and has different calibration values, e.g., for aligning the accessor. This information is also referred to as Vital Product Data (VPD) and may be stored in the non-volatile storage 26 for access by the computer processor 25. As further shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a machine readable serial number 47 is provided, shown mounted on the frame of the library, for example, by means of a mounting plate 48 on a bracket 49 fixed to the frame such that the machine readable serial number is at a predetermined location of the frame. The machine readable serial number may comprise a bar code label or other sensible indicator. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a positionable reader 40, such as a bar code reader, is provided for reading the machine readable serial number identifier 47. In the operation of the library, the positionable reader 40 may also be employed for reading bar code labels 45 which identify each of the data storage media 14. The reader is preferably mounted on the accessor 18, either directly or on the picker 20, to be moved to the machine readable serial number identifier 47 or bar code label 45 for reading the respective machine readable identifier. Alternatively, the serial number identifiers may be stored in electronic form, e.g., in non-volatile memory 26 (FIG. 3), or, as an electronic serial number such as may be provided in an electronic component or device. In this case, there is no requirement for a positionable reader 40.
Currently, it is desirable to integrate a Fibre Channel host attachment to customers that already own the 3584 Ultra Scalable Tape Library. Since the library interface World Wide Names belong to the library, they are saved as VPD.
Upgrading an existing customer would normally involve a manual process because the library VPD would have to be updated to include a valid World Wide Name for the specific library being updated. This cannot be done with a common code update because each library would require a unique World Wide Name.
It would thus be highly desirable to provide a system and methodology for allocating a group of World Wide Names and then using a unique serial number to identify and use a subset of the allocation group.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for assigning a unique identifier to any interface component of a network or storage sub-system device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and methodology for assigning a unique identifier, e.g., World Wide Name, to Fibre Channel interface components provided in storage automation products.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and methodology for eliminating customer down-time whenever a Fibre Channel component is replaced in a data storage library.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for allocating a group of World Wide Names and then using a system serial number to identify and use a subset of the allocation group when retrofitting Fibre Channel components in existing storage automation products.
Thus, according to the principles of the invention, there is provided a system and method for assigning unique names to automated library storage products. The system and method is applicable for assigning unique World Wide Names to newly manufactured library storage products or existing storage sub-systems to be re-provisioned with Fibre Channel loop interface or other state-of-the-art connectivity. When configuring new library storage products, the method comprises the steps of: allocating a range of names to the library storage product, a name being assigned in one-to-one correspondence with a device position in the library and, the range including a base name (Base_N) for indicating where library device naming begins; and, storing the base name in a memory associated with the library; installing a data storage device at a position in the library; and automatically calculating a unique name N based on the stored base name and the data storage device position of the installed device and assigning the calculated name to the installed device.
Assignment of names to library storage products being provisioned may require allocation of unique names according to the serial numbers of each automated library storage product. Alternatively, unique firmware update images, service tools, input at an operator panel, or other library interfaces may be used to set the base name.
Advantageously, the system and method of the present invention may be employed for assigning MAC addresses in the context of network interface connections, or, for that matter, assigning names to any type of device present in a storage sub-system, whether comprising removable or non-removable data storage media.